Fantasy
by FictionFantasy VI
Summary: Celes reminisces on a conversation from long ago. She had been a newly-appointed Imperial General with the weight of the world on her shoulders, and a teenager with a habit of rolling her eyes. It's been one year since the final battle with Kefka. Have things changed? A little bit of LockexCeles thrown in, because I'm just a sucker for that pairing.


Summary: Celes reminisces on a conversation from long ago. She had been a newly-appointed Imperial General with the weight of the world on her shoulders, and a teenager with a habit of rolling her eyes. It's been one year since the final battle with Kefka. Have things changed?

Author's Note: This fic assumes the storyline where Celes was unable to save Cid and he died from sickness on the island. I based the entire thing on a movie quote I randomly came across while scrolling through facebook. See if you can guess which movie ;) I suppose this is also where I should put a disclaimer saying that I don't own any of the Final Fantasy VI characters and whatnot and I just have crazy ideas swirling in my head that need to come out every once in a blue moon (or super moon), but you guys already know that. Enjoy.

Celes Chere never liked the idea of prophecies or any sort of future-fortune-telling. Despite the fact that she was infused with magic as an infant, her upbringing as a super-soldier experiment of the Empire had made her practical, calculating, and cold, so the idea of someone magically foreseeing "good things" in her future was always ridiculous to her. What was the point of it all when she already knew that she would serve the Empire until the day they no longer found her useful?

At least, that's what the former general of the fallen Ghestalian Empire used to think. But as she sat across from Locke on the veranda of a quaint tea shop in the midst of people bustling to rebuild the small town of Maranda, Celes couldn't help reminiscing on a conversation she had with Cid, the Empire's head magitek engineer and her surrogate father, on her 16th birthday. She had just been promoted to the rank of General and at the time, all had seemed on its proper path…

" _You know Celes my dear, you don't have to accept the new position. You are young and the rank of General is a heavy burden for anyone. I'm sure the Emperor would understand."_

" _You don't think I'm capable?" questioned the young soldier quickly._

 _Cid chuckled as he continued assisting Celes with her new armor. She could have such a fiery temper sometimes, contrary to her reputation as the "Ice Queen". "It's not that dear. No one knows more than I the extent of your capabilities. I truly believe that you will make a fine General. I've just always seen your path heading...in a different direction."_

" _Uh…"seen?" Meaning…" skepticism rolling off the General-to-be's tongue._

" _Well, not like foreseeing the future. More like a dream, I suppose. And yes, I saw you roll your eyes at me, young lady."_

 _Celes flinched. She sometimes forgot how well Cid knew her. The kindly scientist had been her guardian since she was an infant. He would always call her "young lady" when he was annoyed with her behavior. Which, in all honesty, was more times than she cared to admit to anyone, so she decided to go along and let Cid finish his story._

" _So," Celes began, trying to change the subject back, "what dreams do you have for my future Cid?"_

" _Well, if you could stop rolling your eyes for one second, I might tell you."_

 _How did he always catch that?_

" _Call me a crazy old man if you will, but ever since they put you in my arms I've always had this picture in my mind. A kind of fantasy really, I suppose, that someday, I would take a nice long holiday in a small town, far away from Vector…._

"Celes?"

The former soldier was interrupted from her reverie when Locke placed a concerned hand over hers. The waiter had come to take their order.

"It's nothing," Celes assured her travelling companion with a small smile, "just some old memories I was thinking about."

Locke raised an eyebrow as he ordered for the both of them. When the waiter left he turned back to her, "Good memories, I hope?"

"Surprisingly, yes. It was about Cid."

The thief smiled at that thought. He had only talked to the brilliant magitek scientist once when they were escaping from Vector, but Locke could tell that he was a good man and a good father to his companion. His death had been very hard on Celes, causing her to despair and almost take her own life after she woke up in the world of ruin created by Kefka. But because of that, she had seen Locke's bandana tied to the seagull. She had found his message and made her way back to him. Plus, Locke was sure that Cid had protected her somehow when she made that leap of faith. How could she have survived that jump otherwise? Locke felt his heart overflow with gratitude as he chuckled.

"Ah, that is a good memory. I was just thinking we should stop by the island on our way to our next destination. Is his grave still there?"

Their drinks came and Locke sipped his while waiting for Celes' answer.

"Yes, of course," Celes replied, "but why the sudden urge to pay your respects?"

Locke looked up at her and smiled almost teasingly as he answered, "Well first of all, we both know that you've been wanting to visit. And second, we'll eventually have to go so that I can introduce myself as your future husband, so we might as well stop by now."

Celes almost choked on her tea as she blushed fiercely, "I don't recall agreeing to anything just yet, thief. You can't steal that kind of thing. And even if you could, do you really think you're a match for me?" she retorted, trying to remember how to instill the fear of God into any man who dared to look at her the wrong way, much less tease her in such a way.

Locke just ignored her, his chin resting casually in one hand as he continued to smile, "...you just said 'yet'".

The pair continued to argue and laugh, then argue and laugh again as the afternoon went by around them. If she was completely honest with herself, Celes didn't mind the whole "future husband" thing so much. She didn't feel ready for that sort of thing just yet. It was still too soon. There were still so many people hurting from Kefka's reign of terror. But who knows? Maybe someday. She did like Locke, and it made her happy to be travelling with him; and she liked to think that she made him happy too.

As these thoughts passed through her mind, a flash of yellow caught her eye. Celes looked over Locke's shoulder as he talked to the waiter, to see a middle-aged man in a yellow lab coat, sitting alone at the table at the far end. He looked absolutely content sipping his cup of tea when he caught her eye. She suddenly recalled the rest of that story Cid told her on her 16th birthday, so long ago…

" _...I'd sit outside in front of a small tea shop and just enjoy the world bustling by. And I had this fantasy you see, that I would look across the tables and see you there, with a husband and maybe a couple of kids._

Celes just stared at the spirit (for what else could he be?), eyes wide, while the world seemed to slow down for just that moment.

 _You wouldn't say anything to me, nor me to you._

The spirit just sipped his tea again, mouthed something softly, and smiled. It was the most happy smile Celes had ever seen on his face in all the years she had known him.

 _But we'd both know that you'd made it..._

The former general felt an ache in her chest. But she couldn't help smiling back as the spirit began to fade away.

 _...that you were happy."_

Celes could hardly believe it. But if anyone were to put her skepticism in place, it would be Cid. Perhaps, not all "fortune-telling" of the future was ridiculous. Maybe the dreams that Cid had of her future were more of a wish. A hope and a prayer for a loved one's happiness.

As Locke continued prattling on about various places they would visit for their honeymoon, Celes looked out across the town and smiled to herself as she suddenly realized that the last words that Cid had mouthed to her had been "Still rolling your eyes?"

Cid had been right. She was happy.

Author's Note: Ugh...I'm horrible when it comes to grammar. Thank goodness for spell-check otherwise there would probably be a lot of that too...Anywho, thanks for reading. This was a spur of the moment story, so sorry if it's a little sloppy. I just really liked the idea, so I just had to do it. I'm way too lazy to meticulously go over every little detail, so if you're reading this, you're getting a raw version of what goes on in my head. I see something I like, it reminds me of something else, and BOOM...I have an entire story line playing in my head, but it always has so many plot holes that I never share it with anyone. This one, I thought wasn't too bad, so I decided to share. You can correct me if you want (I don't even remember if I got the name of the Empire's capital city right…), but most likely, I won't bother to change anything. By the by, did you guess where the quote is from? I used it as Cid's little fantasy story to Celes ;)

Thanks again and I hope you enjoyed it even just a little :)


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